//------------------------------// // Chapter 26 // Story: Old Scars, New Chances // by Arcticbrony //------------------------------// Everything had calmed down rather quickly after Scylla had abandoned her position and chased after her opponent. They had taken down all of the ponies, the last few surrendering after they had noticed how few of them were still fighting. While they were being restrained, some of their own ponies, the ones who had received various injuries, were being carried back to Mary and a few of the ponies of Protocol's unit that had received medical training. Luckily, it seems that none of the ponies on either side had received any serious injuries. Ethan would have been there to help out too, if he had been able to do so that was. “I keep telling you that I am fine.” Ethan protested. He was sitting near a tree at the outline of the small clearing that the entrance to the mine found itself in. “I took a beating, but all of the wounds are superficial.” “You should still have Mary or some other pony take a look at you.” Zoey insisted. She had been nagging Ethan about it ever since the battle had ended. Although she had refused to do the same herself. “I am more than capable of examining myself, and while I am a little bruised,” Ethan winced as he pressed on the spot where the Machoke had hit him with a Brick Break. “Nothing seems to be broken. What about you? How do you feel?” “I am alright…” Zoey said, but got sent a questioning glare as Ethan quickly saw through her lie. “Fine… I have been better.” She sighed as she sat down besides him. “I just don't want any of those ponies to take a look at me.” Ethan was one of the few whom she allowed to examine her. She did not dislike Mary, they were rather good friends actually, but she still refused to let her or anypony else see what was under her sweater. “Want me to do it?” Ethan asked, understanding what Zoey meant. “Y-yes please.” “Alright, please hold out your right arm for me.” Ethan asked Zoey as he got up into a kneeling position besides her. “Does this hurt?” Ethan asked as he held Zoey's arm, gently stretching it and feeling the muscles underneath her fur. “A little, y-yes” Zoey said, whimpering slightly in pain as Ethan got a little further up her arm, closer to the shoulder. “You really went overboard, you know that?” Ethan said as he let go of Zoey's arm, gently lowering it back down. He had been there for the fight between Zoey and the Machoke, he had not seen Zoey fight so furiously in years. “... I know.” Zoey said as Ethan moved onto her back, pulling up her sweater and examining the area where Zoey had hit when she had been thrown onto the ground. “B-but he was hurting you, I… I had to do something.” “I know… how does this feel?” Ethan asked as he applied some pressure on the lower area on her hairless back. “It hurts slightly, but not as bad as before.” Zoey answered. “Okay.” Ethan lower the sweater back down again. “But even so, you would not have needed to go that far.” Ethan continued the topic as he moved onto Zoey's other side. “ I… I know. I was just so furious when I saw him standing over you like that. I just snapped.” “ I realize that… and we are going to talk more about this later when we get home… But than you for saving me.” Ethan thanked Zoey with a smile. “Okay.” Zoey knew that he would not let what had happened go that easily. “By the way, have you seen Chii anywhere?” Ethan asked as he finished with the other arm and continued his examination. He knew that Brawly had gone off to help Protocol and the others with rounding up the last of the ponies and Pokémon that had been helping them out, but he had not seen Chii for a little while, Zoey had been the last to look after her. “I think she ran over to Mary. She said that she wanted to help her.” Zoey mused. Chii had been positively ecstatic after the battle had finished. She had used Thunder Wave over and over to help out Zoey and Brawly against the Granbull and against several other ponies to help take them down. “I just think she is a little scared that you were going to scold her for sneaking along.” “Yeah, that sounds like her.” Ethan let out a small amused laugh. “But if I remember correctly, she was not the only one who were not supposed to come along.” “I.. but I couldn't just-” Zoey protested, but was cut off by Ethan. “No, it was my fault. I should have realized that you would never stay behind in a situation like that. Besides, I am glad that you decided to come along, despite everything that has happened.” It did not take too long for Ethan to finish his examination of Zoey, though it dragged out a bit longer because they had to make sure that no one else was nearby when he examined the areas under Zoey's sweater. “So how does it look?” Zoey asked as she stood up, Ethan following her example. “Nothing serious. Though I still want you to take it easy for a few days after we get back home. I'll ask Mary for a few medical supplies as well.” In truth, Zoey still felt a bit uncomfortable around her stomach and chest area. It was a pain that she had felt before and it came when she over worked herself. Her body was not in top condition and would probably never be so again either, the injuries of her past having left many marks on her. “That’s good, thank you for doing this.” “Anytime, we are family after all.” Ethan replied as he put his arms around Zoey, who gladly accepted the embrace and leaned against him. In the distance, they could hear Protocol as he was talking with the Granbull, or perhaps interrogating would be more correct. He had used the translation spell himself, and was hoping to get some answers out of her, as to why they would side with an organization such as: The Weavers, in the first place. But from the sound of it, he was not making much headway, and to make matters worse, the Machoke had disappeared shortly after the battle had ended. They had thought that it would be impossible for anyone to move while they were that injured, but apart from the small pool of blood from where he had laid, it was like he had never been there at all. “Do you think we should send someone to look for Scylla?” Zoey was the one to speak up after a short while. “It has been a while since she ran off, after all.” “I know… and I hoped that she would come back on her own but, perhaps you are right.” He had known that Scylla was unstable and had anger issues, but he had never thought that she would explode like that. “I'll go talk to Protocol about it, see if he has a few pegasi he can spare. If anyone should go after her, it should be someone that can easily get away from her. We don't know if she has calmed down.” At least that is what he told Zoey. He had half a mind to go after Scylla himself. If he had told Zoey, then she would have insisted to go with him, no doubt about that. And he was afraid that in her rage, Scylla would see Zoey as a possible threat. However, he knew that Scylla was very good at reading other Pokémon’s strength. Therefore, it should be easier for him to approach her alone, since he knew for a fact that she saw him as a weak, pathetic former human. Her words, not his. “You do that.” Zoey said as she gave Ethan one last squeeze before letting him go. “”I think I'll go check up on Chii, make sure that she is not creating too much trouble for Mary.” Ethan could not help but laugh at that. He knew that Chii almost always meant well, but she could go a bit overboard at times. “Yeah, that sounds like something that she would do, indeed.” Ethan waved Zoey off before he turned and slowly walked out into the clearing and towards Protocol who was still interrogating the Granbull. As he walked out into the clearing, Ethan also noticed that several of Protocol's ponies were gathered around the entrance to the mine. He knew what they were looking for. Several of the police ponies had seen a small group of ponies run into the mine shortly after Scylla had taken off. But all of them had their hooves full when it happened, so they were unable to follow after to stop them, or to stop Officer Jenny who had so rashly followed after. Ethan knew that Jenny could be hot headed, and he had thought that she had learned after the incident in the forest, but apparently not. So, they were currently sweeping the mines, looking for both those ponies and for Jenny. “So, how are things going?” Ethan asked after he had finally made his way over to Protocol. He moved a little slower than normal on account of that his body was still hurting. “You have to ask?” Protocol huffed while shooting Ethan a annoyed glare. “Walk with me.” Protocol said suddenly as he walked away from the bound Granbull. “So what is it?” Ethan asked as he followed after. It did not seem that they were going anywhere in particular, but they were putting some distance between them and the Granbull. “She is still not telling me anything worthwhile. It will be easier to interrogate her when I get her back to my station… but that is part of what worries me. I’m not even sure that we can keep her locked up. Not to speak about that… thing that kept shouting so loud that it knocked my ponies out of the air.” Ethan understood why Protocol seemed so worried. His facilities was designed to keep ponies locked up, not Pokémon. “That and I'm not even sure if I can charge them the same way I would a normal pony.” Protocol nearly shouted in frustration as he kicked the ground. “What do you mean?” Ethan inquired. He still wanted to talk to each of those Pokémon himself, it did not sit right with him that they would be charged for what they did if they were somehow forced to do what they did. It was another story if they had done so willingly, of course. “It… It is just a bureaucratic mess. You guys did not even exist here on Equus a little over a week ago. I’m not sure how to handle this. I think that I'm going to need to consult somepony else on this one.” Protocol rubbed his head as he spoke, as if it was all causing him a big headache. “Do you mind if I take a shot at her?” Ethan was no cop, but he had his own way of getting through to someone. That and it may be a bit easier for him to get her to talk, since he was now a Pokémon, just like her. “You going to work your magic like you did back at the hospital?” Ethan winced at the tone that Protocol spoke with and the glare that he sent Ethan. It did, however, not take long for that glare to soften. “As long as somepony else is there to supervise it, sure, be my guest.” It seemed that Protocol did not trust him after that incident in the hospital, not that he could blame him for it. He had gone behind his back, after all. “I'll do that then, but first, I wanted to ask, if I could borrow one of your pegasi.” He could see the confusion on Protocol's face as he had asked that, perhaps he could have worded it a little better. “I want to go after Scylla to check up on her. I was hoping that somepony could fly ahead to scout out the area to help me find her a bit faster. She is fairly large, so she should be easy to spot from the air.” “It seems like she would be fairly easy to track.” Protocol stated, as he pointed to where Scylla had entered the forest. Trees that had simply been crushed as she had rammed into them with the Tangrowth. “But I can see your point… Hey, Glider!” Protocol hollered and a pegasus who was standing by the mine snapped to attention. “Come over here.” He waved the pegasus over, who took to the air and flew over to them without a second’s hesitation. “What do you need, sir?” Once she landed, Ethan noticed that it had been the same pegasus who had scouted ahead of them when they had been travelling up there. From what Ethan had seen before, she was quick and good at what she did. He only hoped that Scylla had not gone too far. The trail that Scylla had left for them had been quite easy to follow, and Ethan was slightly embarrassed that he had Glider, which he had learned was just a nickname, help him follow such an obvious trail. But it was always better to be safe, rather than sorry, and Glider had not seemed to mind. It did not take that long before Glider had spotted something either. “I think I see her.” Glider flew down towards Ethan who was walking underneath her. “How far ahead is she?” Ethan asked once she was at eye height with him. “Not that far, you should be-” She was cut off as a roar, so powerful that it shook all the trees around them, came from somewhere ahead of them. “See her soon… Are you sure that this is wise?” Glider asked as she started to have some doubts of her own. She had seen how effective Scylla had been during the battle, and if someone as powerful as that was out of control, then... “No… I’m really not.” Ethan sighed out. He had dealt with rampaging Pokémon before, but it was never easy. Each of them were different, each of them had their own thing that had set them off in the first place. He only hoped that she was not too far gone. “If I call for you, please don't hesitate to come to rescue me.” Ethan told his flying companion with a humorous smile before he started to walk in the direction that she had pointed him in. “Wait, you are going in alone? No, I can't have that.” Glider protested as she flew in front of him, effectively blocking his path. “Look, she does not know you, and I know that you are good at what you do. But it would probably just make the situation worse if you came with me.” They were just two and relatively small compared to Scylla. But if she sensed any aggression from the pegasus or thought that they were trying to surround her, things could go badly. “I’m serious about coming to rescue me if I need it, though.” “... Fine.” Ethan noticed the conflicted expression on her face as he stepped around her. It must have been weird for her to have been told to stay back in a situation like that and let, what she considered a civilian, go to perform the task instead. It was not long before Ethan could spot Scylla's large form. She was standing still in a clearing that she seemed to have made herself. The trees around her, completely obliterated. Ethan made no effort in being silent as he approached her. Sneaking up on her, if she was still in her “rage mode,” could be one of the worst things he could do. Even so, as he purposely stepped on twigs and the like to make sure that she knew that he was there, she made no indication of turning towards him. As Ethan reached the clearing of smashed trees, he noticed that all around them, along with the pieces of wood, there was vines. Some of them were relatively isolated, while others laid in large piles. They probably belonged to that Tangrowth that she had been battling earlier. But even among the multitude of vines, he could not see a body. Perhaps she had not gone that far. He stopped a small distance away from Scylla who were still facing away from him. Now that he was that much closer, he could both see and hear her heavy breathing. Her large frame rising and dropping with each breath. Ethan took a deep breath as he readied himself, getting into the right mindset that he would need. “Hello there, Scylla.” It was a simple greeting, but the effect of him addressing her directly was instantaneous. Scylla moved with speeds that it was almost impossible to think that someone with a frame that large was capable of. In the blink of an eye, she had turned towards Ethan, her head lowered, and positioned directly in front of his. He could practically smell what she had eaten for breakfast. She kept her head there for a few seconds, as if studying him before she backed away slightly. He could see in her eyes, that she was still not fully there. “It’s time to go home.” Ethan spoke again in a soft tone, but apparently that had been the wrong thing to say as Scylla closed in on him again and roared. It was different from her usual roars. Normally she mostly wanted to show off, and therefore used such force that it could knock him off his feet if he was close enough. But loud was not always better, no this was meant to intimidate him. It was meant as a warning. Ethan then did something that surprised Scylla, who was fully prepared for a fight. He used slow and obvious movements as he sat down right in front of her. Scylla blinked as she backed away slightly, not knowing what to do. The thing in front of her, had done something that you never do in a fight or in front of a threat. Show weakness. But that had still not worked completely, she was still not completely back, Ethan could see it in her eyes. His mind raced, to think of any possible solutions. It was hard for him to think that this kind of behavior was new for her. One does not simply go into a rage that deep so easily unless it has been done before, as if it had been a feature in her that had been nurtured. But if she had acted in such a way while she was in the Checkmate guild, then they had to have some sort of way to deal with her. Some sort of countermeasure… “Scylla… job's done.” Ethan let out a relieved breath as Scylla slowly shook her head, her pupils returning to normal. The change was noticeable on her whole body, it looked like she actually shrunk slightly from relaxing the muscles that had been tensed the entire time before. His guess had been right. “W-Weiss?” Scylla asked, confusion was evident both in her voice and on her face as she looked down on Ethan, who took notice of the name she had used. Perhaps someone she had been used to see after her rage was over. “No… Ethan, I…” Scylla looked around at the clearing around them. “I messed up, didn't I?” She lowered her head in shame as she spoke. She had known what her mission had been, but she had failed when she let that Arbok get under her skin. “... Yes you did.” Ethan said, deciding to be brutally honest with her. It was the first time that he had seen Scylla admit to have made a mistake, it was progress. “But, things worked out anyway. The battle was mostly over when you ran off, so only a few ponies managed to escape. But Jenny chased after them into the mine, so I don't think they will get that far.” “Thats’ great then. Victory is ours!” And back was the normal Scylla. “Yeah, it is. But I am not done with you. We are going to talk more about this when we get back home.” Ethan said, to which Scylla nodded reluctantly as she grumbled to herself. Ethan knew that she did not particularly like her sessions with him, but they were for her own good, even if she did not see it herself. The trip back was rather uneventful. Scylla demanded to be filled in on how the battle had gone after she had disappeared, and was rather pleased to hear about everyone's victory. And while no more signs of the Arbok nor the Tangrowth could be found, Scylla was sure that they were still alive. There would have been a clear body to see in that clearing if she had killed either of them, so Ethan was slightly glad because of that. Even if he was not sure whether they lived because they managed to get away, or if Scylla had remembered her promise not to kill, even in her rampage. After they came back, Ethan decided to give it a shot with the Granbull, with Protocol there to supervise of course. And while Ethan was sure that it would have been easier to get through to her without Protocol there, they did learn something. It seemed that the Granbull and the Machoke were mates, and so, she had been devastated when she found out that he had simply ran off without her. Protocol was not completely convinced as the Granbull said that she only followed the Machoke and that she had no idea what the ponies they were working for actually did. She had known that it was a bit of shady business, that much had been obvious, but that had been it. As for the Machoke, apparently he was a fighting maniac, and he thought that he could get a lot of strong opponents if they stuck with those ponies. He had been right with that guess: he had gotten a fight more than he could handle. But that was all that Ethan could get out of her, more progress would be made once they got back to Neighagra Falls. It hurt Ethan to see the downtrodden look on her face as Protocol took her away. Perhaps she had just been caught up in it all, trusting the wrong Pokémon, ending up in the wrong places. But that was something that he would deal with more when they got back. Perhaps he could convince Protocol to let her off lightly, he really was not sure. He had to think more on the subject. Ethan was about to go up to the ponies that stood outside the mine entrance to hear if they had made some more progress, when a voice called him from behind. “Hey man. Heard that you fixed things with Scylla.” Ethan turned around to see his old friend, crush, and the cause of so many of his recent headaches walking up to him. “Hey… What are you doing here? I thought you were helping with restraining and gathering up the ponies that we captured.” Ethan asked. His words came out a bit harsher than he meant for them too; he was happy to see him again, especially after he had been seemingly avoiding him for so long. “We already finished with that, dude. Besides, Zoey said that you wanted to speak to me about something.” Ethan had to stop himself from cursing Zoey right then and there, she knew exactly what she was doing. He had not had enough time to work things out, to think about what he was going to say and how he was going to say it. He… As Ethan stood there and looked at Brawly, he realized that he was never going to be completely comfortable with doing what he had wanted to do for so long. He was never going to get the perfect conditions to say it. So, perhaps Zoey had done him a favor. Perhaps it was time to simply jump into it. “Y-yeah, I guess I do.” Ethan said sheepishly, ignoring his urge to nervously fondle his large fluffy ears. It was a bad habit that he had gotten recently, and it gave him away so easily. Ethan took a deep breath, as Brawly simply stood there, waiting for him to continue. The only other time that he had ever been that nervous was when he came out to his parents, but then he had Brawly there to support him. Now he just felt sick to his stomach, almost like he wanted to puke. “Hey, man. Are you alright?” Ethan looked up to see, Brawly, who looked at him with concern. It seemed that his nervousness had shown, despite his efforts to hide it. Brawly had always been there for him, no matter what, through thick and thin. It was then that he knew for sure, that no matter how things went, no matter how his friend took what he was about to say. In the end, it would be okay. “Yeah, sorry for worrying you.” Ethan gave Brawly a gentle smile as he gathered himself once more. “I have thought about speaking to you about this several times, but every time you made me feel like this.” He thought that he must have looked like a fool the way he stuttered and fumbled with his words before. “It’s important, I take it?” Brawly asked with his usual smile, the smile that told Ethan that everything would be fine. The smile that filled him with confidence. “... It is, yeah. And I’m sorry for putting you on the spot like this, but I need to let it out. I… I like you.” He had first thought about telling Brawly that he straight up loved him, but that word alone proved to be much harder to say than Ethan had realised. He had said it numerous times before, but this was different. “Not like a friend… n-no, also like a friend, I mean…” Another deep breath to gather himself. “The way you make me feel a bit sick every time I see you, like I have Butterfree's in my stomach. I.. I..” There was that urge to throw up again. “I love you. As a friend, yes, but I always hoped that there would… could be a chance for something more.” It felt as if an entire world had been lifted from his shoulder as he had said those words. But as he looked at Brawly he felt himself beginning to grow more and more nervous once again. For his friend did not have any of the reactions that Ethan had expected. Shock, disbelief, even anger. He would have known how to deal with those reactions, but instead Brawly just stood there with an expression that Ethan did not recognize. Brawly did not say anything, he… he just stood there. Fears began to well up inside Ethan. Why was he not saying anything, why was Brawly just standing there? Was he getting turned down? He had known that it would be a good possibility, but that did not mean that it hurt any less. He could feel the tears start to well up in his eyes as he continued to overthink about the possibilities. Perhaps Brawly was angry at him. He had never seen him truly angry before, so he would not know. “I… I'm sorry for not telling you sooner.” Ethan said, his voice cracking as his mind was already racing towards damage control. Thinking of all the worst possible outcomes possible. However, as Ethan continued to panic slightly, he did not hear Brawly who spoke up, and instead simply continued. “I understand if you are upset with me, I just thought that you deserved to know the truth. I'll leave you alone if that is what you want, just please-” Ethan was stopped as he felt a paw under his chin that lifted his face up so that he was looking at Brawly, who was suddenly standing incredibly close to him. And then Brawly did something that made Ethan's brain short circuit. He kissed him. Ethan's eyes widened as Brawly had suddenly leaned forward and pressed his lips against his own. He felt his heart drumming against the inside of his chest, it was like his body was on fire. His legs grew weak and he might have fallen down if it had not been for the fact that Brawly was holding him close. And just as sudden as it had started, it ended. It had just been a short kiss, just a few seconds, but to Ethan it had been the most wonderful experience in the world. Even if it ended much sooner than he would have wanted. “You think too much.” Brawly said as he leaned back, smirking at Ethan's dumbfound expression. A smile slowly grew on Ethan's face as he stayed there in Brawly's arms, and if one listened very carefully, the cry of despair from a certain Skitty could be heard in the distance. “S-so does this mean…” Ethan asked softly as he looked up to Brawly, breaking the silence. He could have just stayed like that in his arms forever, but he wanted to know, needed to know where the two of them stood after that. “It means that I am willing to give this a chance.” Brawly said as Ethan continued to lean against him. “I did kiss you, did I not?” “Yes you did.” Ethan smiled happily, he felt like a schoolgirl in that moment, and he had probably giggled like one as well. “C-can I kiss you… again?” Ethan asked as he looked up to Brawly, he couldn't help it, he was still a little nervous about that whole thing. “Come here, you silly Lopunny.” Brawly grinned as he brought Ethan up once more. This time however, Ethan was ready for what was to come. The two of them embraced each other in their moment of passion. Brawly lifting Ethan up from the ground as they ignored the world around them. “Happy?” Brawly asked when they finally separated. “Very. You are a good kisser.” Ethan smirked as he noticed the small blush that Brawly had on his face. Though he was probably blushing much harder himself. “And you are a very poor one.” Brawly countered, smiling to himself at how flustered Ethan got. “Well, unlike someone else I haven't had that much practice.” Ethan huffed as he looked away. He knew that Brawly had been quite popular with the ladies, but that did not mean that he had to flaunt it at him like that. “Hey, don't be like that.” Brawly said as he put a paw on Ethan's shoulder. “I did not say that it was a bad thing. It only means that we need to work on it some more, so that you can get better at it.” And just like that, Ethan felt incredibly silly for having felt jealous, even if it had just been for a moment. “Aww, aren’t the two of you just the cutest!” Brawly and Ethan looked off to the side, to see Zoey who stood there with the biggest smile possible before she positively pranced towards them. “So I take it that everything worked out?” Zoey beamed as she came to a stop in front of them. “Yeah, it did.” Ethan said happily as he put his arms around Brawly and nuzzled happily against him. “You simply must tell me everything!” Zoey insisted as she watched the cute couple. Even if, in her dreams, she was the one that ended up with Ethan, seeing him being so happy was a pleasure of its own. “I assume it was your idea and not Ethan's when you said that he had something he wanted to talk to me about then?” Brawly asked. “Heh, guilty as charged.” Zoey sheepishly admitted, rubbing the fur on her left arm. “I just could not stand to watch the two of you go on like that any longer. Besides, Ethan really needed a push and it did not seem like you were planning on doing anything.” Brawly had to admit, she had hit the nail on the head there. He had not been sure of what he had wanted, but when Ethan had begun pouring out his feelings like that infront of him, he had felt something spark inside of himself. After that, things just happened naturally. And while the two of them still had some things that they needed to work out, as he looked down on Ethan who was standing there as close to him as was possible, he felt happier than he had in a long time. It felt right. So Brawly then proceeded to tell Zoey about exactly what had happened, and how nervous Ethan had been when he confessed, much to Ethan's embarrassment. But their moment could not last forever, and the three of them were interrupted when Protocol had walked up to them with a more serious expression than usual. “I'm afraid I have some bad news.” He said, cutting straight to the chase. Zoey had half a mind to chew Protocol out right then and there for ruining the mood when Brawly and Ethan had been so cute, but she kept it to herself. They would have more time to be alone after they got back home. “What is it?” Ethan asked, finally tearing himself away from Brawly, at least mostly. He still kept a hold of Brawly's paw. After he had dreamed about such a thing for so long, he was not going to let go that easily. “We investigated the mine fully. It was a maze of tunnels and the like. A lot of them were dead ends, having been closed off a long time ago by the looks of it. The rest of them eventually connected and led to the same place. It was some sort of laboratory. And we even found a few other Pokémon and some other endangered magical species down there.” Protocol said, from the look of it, he was more than a little worried, which confused Ethan since most of what he had said sounded like good news. “Wouldn't that be a good thing?” Brawly asked, taking the words right out of Ethan's mouth. “I was not finished yet.” Protocol huffed as he shook his head. “That alone is good news, yes. But what is not, is what we did not find. We used magic to map the entire mine to make sure that we were not missing anything. But the evidence speaks for itself. There was a very fresh trail that went down to the laboratory before suddenly stopping, as if its owners completely disappeared into thin air.” Worry started to creep up on Ethan, he had a suspicion about where Protocol was going with this but he really hoped that he was wrong. “That trail belonged to three ponies… and Jenny, from what we can tell. I’m sorry, but she is missing. Jenny is gone.” “Are you sure that it is this way?” An annoyed Vernus asked as he and Growlithe trecked through the forest. “I mean… there is nothing out here, why would she be here?” They have been traveling blind for a while. Sure, they had managed to catch Jenny's scent when they were in Hollow Shades, but following it had been another issue. Her scent had originated from the train station, which was also where it disappeared. “Yes, I’m sure.” The Growlithe huffed at Vernus, he was getting real tired with his constant nagging. “Don't doubt this nose. I managed to track down you guys back in the Forbidden Forest, did I not?” So, instead of following the train tracks blindly like a pair of idiots, they had done a sweep of the town instead and found a strange thing. It was a pony, but not a pony at the same time. More importantly, it had Jenny's scent on it. So when the bug pony had tried to skip town, the two of them had followed after. Things had sort of escalated after that. But eventually, they had ended up where they were now. It was late in the evening when Vernus and Growlithe came to a small clearing with a mine entrance along with a small hill that was overlooking it. And from how things looked, there had been a battle there recently. “That’s strange…” The Growlithe muttered as he started walking around, while sniffing the air. “What is it?” Vernus asked, while walking around, inspecting the various marks that had been left on the ground after whatever battle had taken place there. “I can smell Jenny quite clearly, but there is also another smell here that I recognize.” He said as he took a deep breath and concentrated on the different smells that had been left behind. “Just like Jenny's, it’s the same but different at the same time.” He looked to Vernus who had stopped what he was doing and had his full attention focused at the Growlithe. “It’s Ethan.”